Firing into the night

I have been playing with clay recently something which I have hardly touched since I was still a teenager. Part of the fun this time around has been experimenting with raku and pit firing. All this has was done in the few weeks before we headed off on our holidays.

Raku firing in the rain

Flaming hot!

Looking inside the bin raku kiln

The smoking sawdust before the lid went on

Raku pot which had been thinly glazed in part

Raku pot

Raku pot which had been thinly glazed in part

Pit fire with copper flame visible

All these firings, bar one, went on into the night. A good way to keep warm in the middle of winter.

Pit fired pot which had been painted with cobalt sulphate

Pot which had been painted with iron sulphate solution

Pit fired pot which had been painted with copper sulphate

The raku pots were textured with carved lino blocks with a banksia theme and the pit fired pots were textured with pressings from banksia leaves, nuts and flowers. All this was inspired by some research I had read about. Some CSIRO reseachers had tracked singing honeyeaters to find out where they travelled. They flew up to about twelve kilometres from their normal home range just to get to a small banksia patch to feed on the blossom there. An amazing feat for such tiny birds.

This last photo was taken at Bilyuin Pool last night. Here I am doing an experimental firing and cooking up some textiles at the same time . The pool is in the background reflecting the lovely white eucalypt trunks in the evening light.